TBI describes process of arresting TDA gang members
TBI Director David Rausch (left), Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett (middle), and Chattanooga Police Chief John Chambers (right) discussing concerns regarding Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- A hot topic of conversation over the past week is the potential presence of a Venezuelan gang here in the Chattanooga area.
Monday, officials confirmed there have been arrests made related to the Tren de Aragua gang.
TDA is a transnational criminal organization that formed in Venezuelan prisons.
Last weekend, TBI director David Rausch announced that based on their intelligence, the gang was active in all metropolitan areas of Tennessee.
The TBI announced that four people, three women and a male suspect, were arrested in Chattanooga in a prostitution sting last week.
The male suspect, Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona, is a member of the TDA gang according to the TBI and has a criminal record.
He is being charged with patronizing prostitution, possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent to resale, and illegal possession of a firearm.
We are not naming the women involved because Director Rausch believes them to be human trafficking victims.
He says they are only under arrest because they have not accepted victim support services.
Rausch explained that, “It’s a transitory operation, all human trafficking. It’s typically passing through and going to where what they see as demand, and so they go and feed that demand, and that is what happened in that operation, is we saw what they were operating, we immediately responded and addressed that, and that’s what we plan to continue to do.”
According to an affidavit we obtained from the Hamilton County Courthouse, authorities say the Serenity Suites motel off of Shallowford Road was the location where this illicit activity was occurring
It is located right off of the I-75 Shallowford Road exit, which authorities say the gang is often around major interstate routes traveling between destinations.
Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett said, “That person was traveling through. Was in Georgia a couple days before, as far away as up north, moving around very quickly.”
According to these affidavits, the TBI agents were able to track down this operation via undercover work on an adult escort website.
All of the arrested were from Venezuela, but currently reside in Chicago, and were only visiting Chattanooga to conduct sex work according to that affidavit.
Director Rausch says that these are the first arrests in Chattanooga related to TDA, but say that they have not established themselves here as they stay on the run to avoid authorities.
Rausch said, “As long as we are effective and efficient with that, then we do not expect them to take a foothold.”
To reiterate, these suspects do not live in Chattanooga, and this was one of several areas in which they were conducting these activities according to authorities.
Carmona is awaiting a court date.
